It's the top beach destination in Vietnam, as well as the top scuba spot. Hard to go wrong.
The beach is long and wide and gorgeous and ... empty.
It was a pleasant change after Thailand, where sunbeds literally cover the beaches. There were only a few vendors walking the beach, whereas in Thailand I'd have to fend off 10 or 12 per minute, and that's no exaggeration.
On the other hand, Nha Trang has a reputation for being a dangerous place. Everyone you meet in Southeast Asia has a story about someone they met who was robbed or beaten up in Nha Trang.
Surely some of these stories are apocryphal. But the locals I talked to warned me that, yes, as a Western tourist, I needed to be careful. Most of the warnings were of the "don't get drunk and do anything stupid" variety, which hold true anywhere.
But I talked to a guy at a dive shop who said one of his clients fell asleep on the beach and woke up robbed -- and naked. In broad daylight. One thing I was told to look out for was a group of unusually friendly women approaching. I was told to run away or yell at them. That's because they will approach a Western man as if to flirt, then beat him up and rob him.
So it was lucky that I met what I thought was a young Vietnamese couple on a boat trip. It turns out that he lives in Saigon. She's lived in Australia for eight years. They're childhood friends, and were hanging out while she was home visiting friends and family.
They took me to some real Vietnamese restaurants, where locals hang out. I got to try lots of fun food I would never have known how even order, let alone eat. I treated them to dinner one night. An appetizer and soup for three for $3. I couldn't eat alone that cheaply at one of the tourist restaurants downtown.
The boat tour is basically required of tourists in Nha Trang. They all follow the same itinerary. Here's a shot looking back at all the tour boats at the dock as we were departing.
We stopped at a really lousy snorkeling spot, then had lunch on the water. It was a pretty decent spread.
Next to us was a series of lobster farms. Here's a guy tending the nets, and one of the world's unluckiest dogs, living on a manmade island with no shade.
The water is gorgeous and clear.
After lunch the entertainment began. I was dreading this part, but it was actually a lot of fun. One of the boat boys plays a decent guitar. Another fashioned a drumset out of plastic buckets and hubcaps. Our tour guide was the singer.
He pulled people out of the group from different countries and had them sing along to a song from wherever they were from. Apparently the "band" did a passable job. Here is a terribly shy Korean girl who got pulled up on stage, but ended up enjoying herself, despite her protestations.
I was the only American on the boat so of course I lied and said I was Australian. Vietnam is a country where it's better not to draw attention to yourself if you're American, as I was to learn.
After lunch we all jumped in the water, a bunch of floats were thrown in after us, and we all floated around as our tourguide poured wine from a floating bar. You can see the glare off my bald white head.
(That was several weeks ago. Since then I've actually spent enough time in the sun that, for the first time in perhaps 15 years, I have a tan.)
When I got back on the boat I discovered that my snorkel and mask were missing. The brand spanking new one I had bought on Koh Tao in November and only used for the second time that day. The equipment I paid $65 for and hoped to use the next day when I went diving.
I notified the tour guide, who made a show of being concerned. But he no doubt knew what I knew, that it was a member of the crew who took it. Only someone familiar with such equipment would know that my mask was a good one.
I went to complain to the tour office onshore but they wouldn't help me. I talked to an Austrian ex-pat who owns a tour agency there and he said to forget about it. He said the police don't speak English, and even if they did, they wouldn't help an American. He added that it would not be in my interests to draw attention to myself. So it turned out to be an expensive day on the water....
So, if you are in Nha Trang, by all means take one of the boat tours, but DO NOT go with the Mama Linh company.
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